Not applicable.
Not applicable.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to water barrier coatings for materials left out in the weather, and in particular, to water barrier protective coatings formed in situ on materials left out in the weather, so that the materials become resistant to absorption of moisture.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
Beginning in 1994, Valley Products Company, Inc., assignee of the present invention and patent applications therefor, as well as other companies, investigated using vegetable oil products, as well as byproducts of vegetable oil processing operations, for providing protective coverings or coatings to protect materials from exposure to the elements. Specific applications involved such diverse materials as hay bales, agricultural silage, coal piles, and road salt piles, all of which suffer from moisture absorption when left outside exposed to the weather.
An Aug. 5, 1994, newsletter entitled Watt Matters from the New Madrid Power Plant at New Madrid, Mo., describes the use of xe2x80x9csoapstock skimmingsxe2x80x9d, a byproduct of the soybean oil refining process, being tested as a dust suppressant on coal stockpiles and gravel roads. Such soapstock skimmings are well-known in the prior art, and, as hereinafter described, can be used as a component ingredient when forming the protective coating of the present invention.
J. P. Dunn, of the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council, is known to have used soybean soapstock skimmings under the trademark LiquiWrap as a preservative coating for hay bales as early as July 1995, and has suggested using soybean soapstock skimmings as a coating for piles of road salt to prevent moisture absorption.
An article entitled xe2x80x9cSave it with Soybeanxe2x80x9d in the November 1996 issue of Missouri Ruralist magazine describes using this same soybean soapstock waste of soapstock skimmings as a forage preservative for treating corn silage and hay bales, in order to reduce spoilage and to thereby reduce forage loss. The article also notes that soybean soapstock waste is edible by cows, so that treatment of the forage by the soapstock does not reduce the utility of the forage as agricultural feed.
A promotional notice in the December 1996 issue of Missouri Ruralist magazine notes that Dunn Agribusinesses was spraying soybean soapstock skimmings sold under the trademark LiquiWrap onto bales of hay to form a protective waterproof barrier around the hay, and notes that the treated bales of hay could be fed directly to livestock, who would eat the soapstock skimmings covering along with the hay.
Valley Products Company, Inc., has long sold its SoyCoat 60 coating made from soybean oil feed stocks as a protective coating over silage and as a cattle feed additive.
An article entitled xe2x80x9cSoybean Product Holds Promise for Preserving Hay and Silagexe2x80x9d in the Winter 1997 issue of Commercial Agriculture discusses treatment of hay bales with a coating of soybean soapstock as a forage preservative, and also discusses use of soybean soapstock for dust abatement.
A project report submitted to the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council by Dale G. Watson and J. P. Dunn on Jan. 15, 1998, entitled xe2x80x9cReducing Forage Loss from Large Round Bales and Horizontal Silos using Soybean Soapstock or Blends of Soybean Soapstock with Predominately Long Chain Fatty Acidsxe2x80x9d, summarizes experimental findings concerning the application of soybean soapstock byproduct material as a silage coating.
None of these references, either singly or in combination, disclose or suggest the present invention, specifically, the use of fatty acids or soapstock skimmings together with lime to form a durable in situ protective coating to protect materials stored outdoors from moisture absorption.
These prior art attempts to use simple vegetable oil byproduct material proved to have limited success. The nature of the soapstock byproduct material being applied tended to produce uneven coating of the substrate material. The stability of the coating, when first applied, was affected by climatic conditions such as rainfall, which would tend to wash off the coating. Furthermore, there was found to be a relatively long curing period before a durable coating became formed. The overall degree of protection of the substrate material was thus quite variable depending on specific environmental conditions at the time of application and shortly thereafter. The soapstock byproduct material, while having the advantages of being edible by livestock and also being relatively inexpensive due to its production as a waste byproduct of the vegetable oil processing process, was thus found to be unacceptable as a protective coating because of the variability of the protection under normal environmental conditions.
It is therefore desirable to have a durable protective coating that can be formed in situ from inexpensive materials to provide a barrier that is substantially, if not totally, impervious to moisture. It is further desirable that such a protective coating use ingredients that are either biodegradable or otherwise environmentally safe, and that such a protective coating use ingredients that are approved by the U.S.F.D.A. and U.S.D.A. for use as animal feed ingredients so that such a protective coating can be safely used to protect animal feed and silage from spoilage due to moisture.
It is further desirable prepare liners for various environmental uses. Liners could be used for environmental soil bioremediation in a process generally referred to as landfarming. Landfarming is the land application of contaminated soil and its treatment by indigenous microorganisms. Landfarming is used to remediate petroleum wastes, wood-treating wastes, pesticides, and chlorinated solvent wastes. Often, soil contaminated with these wastes is applied on prepared high density polyethylene (HDPE) liners. Once all the soil is spread, it is covered with a similar liner and allowed to biodegrade. Most landfills also require specifically designed layered liners. Another application of the liner is in landfills.
It is still further desirable to provide a source of carbon and nutrients for soil and groundwater remediation. Often, soil contaminated with the above-mentioned wastes is augmented with organic supplements such as molasses, compost, or chicken manure so that biotreatment (the consumption of wastes by microorganisms) can occur more rapidly.
The present invention is a calcium salt protective coating formed in situ by combining fatty acids with lime, and the present invention also includes the associated method of forming the protective coating in situ. The fatty acids are preferably vegetable fatty acids such as from soapstock byproduct skimmings produced during the manufacture of vegetable oil. Experimental testing has shown that the protective coating is substantially impervious to moisture. The protective coating is a suitable covering for hay bales, silage, coal piles, and road salt piles. Further experimental testing has shown that the present invention is also particularly suited to environmental soil bioremediation (xe2x80x9clandfarmingxe2x80x9d) using microbes, in which the fatty acid ingredient of the present invention, in addition to being used in formation of a protective coating that inhibits introduction of oxygen into the soil being treated, can also be used as a carbon source for the microbial activity.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a protective coating that can be formed in situ over materials left out in the weather and that is substantially impervious to moisture.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a protective coating for use in environmental soil bioremediation (xe2x80x9clandfarmingxe2x80x9d) using microbes, such that the protective coating inhibits the introduction of oxygen into the soil being treated, and whereby the ingredients used in the process of formation of the protective coating in situ also provides a source of carbon for the microbial activity.